All Discussions Tagged 'From' - Think Atheist2015-03-03T21:02:26Zhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=From&feed=yes&xn_auth=noHappy National Day of Prayer everybodytag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-05-02:1982180:Topic:13030982013-05-02T15:05:15.741ZGallup's Mirrorhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/GallupsMirror
<p>Yesterday the President of the United States issued a proclamation calling upon all Americans "to turn to God in prayer", including 13 million American atheists and agnostics; a sub-set of the 33 million Americans who have no religious affiliation.</p>
<p>The Freedom From Religion Foundation has sued to stop the National Day of Prayer as an unconstitutional endorsement of religion over irreligion by the federal government. A federal district court in Wisconsin agreed and ruled in their favor…</p>
<p>Yesterday the President of the United States issued a proclamation calling upon all Americans "to turn to God in prayer", including 13 million American atheists and agnostics; a sub-set of the 33 million Americans who have no religious affiliation.</p>
<p>The Freedom From Religion Foundation has sued to stop the National Day of Prayer as an unconstitutional endorsement of religion over irreligion by the federal government. A federal district court in Wisconsin agreed and ruled in their favor in 2010. Then in 2011, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the case, ruling the Freedom from Religion Foundation lacked the legal right to bring the suit.</p>
<p>In other words, a federal appeals court full of religious men saw they were going to lose the game, so they disqualified the other team: us. So it goes.</p>
<p>There is one small thing I find encouraging. President Obama has issued the first proclamation of this type that is not overtly Christian in nature. He seems to be <a href="http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/obama-cleanses-day-of-prayer-of-christianity/" target="_blank">annoying</a> all the right people.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">It's in your face. It's unconstitutional. But it's staying. Happy National Day of Prayer everybody.</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>36 U.S.C. § 119 : US Code - Section 119: National Day of Prayer</strong></p>
<p>The President shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals. (Enacted in 1952)</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Presidential Proclamation -- National Day of Prayer, 2013</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>A PROCLAMATION</strong></p>
<p>Americans have long turned to prayer both in times of joy and times of sorrow. On their voyage to the New World, the earliest settlers prayed that they would "rejoice together, mourn together, labor, and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work." From that day forward, Americans have prayed as a means of uniting, guiding, and healing. In times of hardship and tragedy, and in periods of peace and prosperity, prayer has provided reassurance, sustenance, and affirmation of common purpose.</p>
<p>Prayer brings communities together and can be a wellspring of strength and support. In the aftermath of senseless acts of violence, the prayers of countless Americans signal to grieving families and a suffering community that they are not alone. Their pain is a shared pain, and their hope a shared hope. Regardless of religion or creed, Americans reflect on the sacredness of life and express their sympathy for the wounded, offering comfort and holding up a light in an hour of darkness.</p>
<p>All of us have the freedom to pray and exercise our faiths openly. Our laws protect these God-given liberties, and rightly so. Today and every day, prayers will be offered in houses of worship, at community gatherings, in our homes, and in neighborhoods all across our country. Let us give thanks for the freedom to practice our faith as we see fit, whether individually or in fellowship.</p>
<p>On this day, let us remember in our thoughts and prayers all those affected by recent events, such as the Boston Marathon bombings, the Newtown, Connecticut shootings, and the explosion in West, Texas. Let us pray for the police officers, firefighters, and other first responders who put themselves in harm's way to protect their fellow Americans. Let us also pray for the safety of our brave men and women in uniform and their families who serve and sacrifice for our country. Let us come together to pray for peace and goodwill today and in the days ahead as we work to meet the great challenges of our time.</p>
<p>The Congress, by Public Law 100-307, as amended, has called on the President to issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a "National Day of Prayer."</p>
<p>NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2, 2013, as a National Day of Prayer. I join the citizens of our Nation in giving thanks, in accordance with our own faiths and consciences, for our many freedoms and blessings, and in asking for God's continued guidance, mercy, and protection.</p>
<p>IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.</p>
<p>BARACK OBAMA</p> Questions From An Atheist To A Christian.tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2010-08-12:1982180:Topic:3332082010-08-12T09:35:07.202ZJon Heimhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/JonathanHeim
First, a few innocent questions:<br></br><br></br>* Do you have homosexual friends? Do you have friends of different faiths? Do any of them have morals?<br></br><br></br>* Have you read the bible in its entirety? Have you done research on other religions? <br></br><br></br>* Do you believe that our country was founded as a Christian nation?<br></br>(our founding fathers left Europe because they were not happy with the church. Most of them were Deists, Which means that they believed in a higher being, not necessarily a…
First, a few innocent questions:<br/><br/>* Do you have homosexual friends? Do you have friends of different faiths? Do any of them have morals?<br/><br/>* Have you read the bible in its entirety? Have you done research on other religions? <br/><br/>* Do you believe that our country was founded as a Christian nation?<br/>(our founding fathers left Europe because they were not happy with the church. Most of them were Deists, Which means that they believed in a higher being, not necessarily a Christian higher being) The founding fathers who did not leave because of religion were born here....look it up.<br/><br/>* If you believe that the bible gives you all of the answers, and science is just theory, Why wouldn't you prefer trusting something that is constantly changing and learning new things and make us see the world differently?<br/>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>Next, Bible Questions:<br/><br/>* If Noah and his wife and kids populated the world after the great flood....why wasn't inbreeding a problem like we actually discovered it to be?<br/><br/>* How did Noah get two of each animal in the whole world in a 450 feet (137.2 meters) long, 75 feet (22.9 meters) wide and 45 feet (13.7 meters) high ark, esp within walking distance and before we knew that there were other continents? Not only that, how could he have made a vessel that large out of wood when we have only made ships that big out of metal?<br/><br/>* Why doesn't God communicate with us in person anymore? Don't you think these days it would be needed?<br/><br/>* Since I read the bible and tried to understand it and I prayed to God almost every night to let him make me see the light, why do I still not believe in God?<br/><br/>* If a man who killed innocent people is on death row and asked God for forgiveness of his sins just before he died Do you believe he will go to heaven? If so, why would you want to worship a god who would send an innocent atheist to hell even if he is a good person and is just being himself? <br/><br/>* Most Christians do not take translations of the bible literally, If this is God's word, then why are certain things over looked and Usually used to benefit a certain agenda?<br/><br/>* Why did God grant Abraham the privilege of having slaves? (you might say that the bible was written in a time when this sort of thing was socially acceptable, so its ok.) If that is true then why would you follow the rest of it?<br/><br/>* If God is omnipotent, why did he test his followers?<br/><br/>* Did you know that Christianity, Islam and Judaism have very many things in common? All Religions Have Pagan roots and traditions.<br/><br/>* Why were the crusades, witch hunts and inquisitions necessary? Is it a coincidence that Christianity was The main belief during the dark ages?<br/><br/>* Did you know that Catholicism is Polytheistic? the father/son/holy ghost...yes the trinity, which first came from the Pagan belief of the maiden/mother/crone.<br/><br/>* Why would you want to believe in a religion that promotes sexism just because Eve was tricked? <br/><br/>* Why did the answer for a lot of problems involve stoning a person to death? Example: wives who were not virgins, children who did not obey...does it really seem necessary for these minor problems?<br/><br/>* A popular one: If God created everything one day, where did God come from and what was he doing before he created everything? If your answer is "he has always been there", then how does the story of God creating everything make you understand where the world comes from, but doesn't make you wonder where God came from? How isn't it that the world has always been there?<br/><br/>* Why don't miracles happen these days? I mean real miracles that are tangible and don't leave a trace of doubt in your mind that it was a miracle. Like in the bible.<br/><br/>* If you know that other world religions are wrong and clearly ridiculous, Why cant you see the absurdities in your own religion? as I said before, there are a lot of similarities. <br/><br/>* If the 2nd Commandment is "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" why do Christians wear crosses, Have statues and make films with Jesus' graven image on them?<br/><br/>* The bible states that the Earth is between 6,000 and 8,000 years old, that it was created in 7 days, and that Man is made of dirt and Woman a piece of Man. The modern church says this is allegory. Where does it say in the bible that it is allegory? And what about cave men??<br/><br/>* Why did God reject Cain's sacrifice of vegetables and not Abel's sacrifice of animals?<br/><br/>* If Jesus was from the middle east why is he depicted as a white male? Is it just the same as pagan traditions being used to convert pagans and other people to the christian religion?<br/><br/>*the modern Christian churches of the world tend to gloss the fact that God is a child killer—the 10th plague in Egypt—and say that Jesus set this right. Ignoring for a moment that the crucifixion is just one more child killing to fulfill God’s will, why does Jesus say he also will kill children in Revelation 2:23? <br/><br/>*The Bible of 400 CE and the Bible today differ by dozens of chapters and thousands of parts. Which Bible is the word of God and why does man edit it?<br/><br/>* how can you believe that man was created from dust and women was created by removing a rib from the man. This means that women isn't equal to man. How does that make you feel?<br/><br/>* Freedom to choose is given to man by God. Man has two main choices: 1) accept the Love of God and, upon death, go to paradise for eternity, 2) Refuse God and, upon death, just die, be utterly damned. How is that freedom of choice when it is the same thing as a gun to your head?<br/><br/>*Even in this global age there are millions of persons who never hear the Good News. We are born in sin. Do some go to Hell just because of their birth circumstances? Is it not likely that had you been born in Cairo you would be a Muslim and, as 840 million people do, would believe that “there is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet"? If you have been born in Calcutta would you not in all probability be a Hindu and, as 650 million people do, accept the Vedas and the Upanishads as sacred scriptures and hope sometime in the future to dwell in Nirvana? Is it not probable that, had you been born in Jerusalem, you would be a Jew and, as some 13 million people do, believe that Yahweh is God and that the Torah is God’s Word? Is it not likely that had you been born in Peking, you would be one of the millions who accept the teachings of the Buddha or Confucius or Lao-Tse and strive to follow their teachings and example? is it not likely that you, the reader, are a Christian because your parents were before you?<br/><br/>* Why are there literally hundreds of Christian denominations and independent congregations, all of them basing their beliefs on the Bible, and most of them convinced that all the others are, in some ways, wrong?<br/><br/>* Is it possible to believe that the Creator of the universe would personally impregnate a Palestinian virgin in order to facilitate getting his Son into the world as a man?<br/><br/> * Why, in a world filled with suffering and starvation, do Christians spend millions on cathedrals and sanctuaries and relatively little on aid to the poor and the needy?<br/><br/>* Why would the Father of all mankind have a Chosen People and favor them over the other nations on earth?<br/><br/> * Why would God who is “no respecter of persons” prohibit adultery and then bless, honor, and allow to prosper a king who had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines?<br/><br/>* Why is the largest Christian church controlled entirely by men, with no woman - no matter how pious or gifted - permitted to become a priest, a monsignor, a bishop, an archbishop, a cardinal, or a pope?<br/><br/>* How could anyone physically live for over 600 years?<br/>_______________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/>The list could go on for quite some time. Feel free to add your own.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>